Mud retriever

ABSTRACT

A mud retriever  10  which includes a handle portion  12  and a blade portion  16  which includes a straight edge  22  which may be used to selectively open a mud container  70  and a semi-elliptical edge  32  which conforms to the curvature of the inner surface  93  of the container  70  and which allows mud  90  (or other material) to be easily retrieved from the container  70  and applied to a desired location  100  or placed within an applicator assembly. The blade portion  16  also includes an edge  30, 22  which each allow the mud  90  to be easily “smeared” or distributed over location  100 . In an alternate configuration, the arcuate blade edge is non-elliptical and the blade includes four separate straight edges  146,148 , and  150  which each have a respectively unique length.

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/075,675 which was filed on Mar. 13, 2008 andfrom which priority is hereby claimed.

GENERAL BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a mud retriever and moreparticularly to a mud retriever which may easily and efficiently be usedto selectively retrieve mud or drywall joint compound material from acan or other receptacle and then allow the retrieved material/mud to beeasily applied to a certain desired surface or placed into anapplication assembly (e.g., a trough type assembly) after which it maybe applied to a desired surface.

2. Background of the Invention

Mud retrievers are used to selectively retrieve mud or drywall jointcompound from a typically and generally round can or other receptacleand then to deposit the retrieved mud in an applicator assembly, such asone which includes a trough or other receptacle. From the trough orother receptacle, various types of applicators are used to apply themud/material to various surfaces or desired locations.

While these prior retrievers do allow the mud or drywall joint compoundto be selectively retrieved and then eventually applied upon a surface,they are difficult and awkward to use and such deficiencies cause mud tobe unintentionally splattered or distributed over a relatively widearea, thereby necessitating an undesirable and time consuming “clean up”effort. Moreover, these prior mud retrievers do not effectively andefficiently retrieve all or most of the material contents from acylinder shaped or generally round container, such as a one gallon orfive gallon container.

This deficiency is oftentimes due to the inability of these priorretrievers to readily and structurally conform to the round internalsurface of the container and consequently material is often left on thesurface when the container is disposed of. The “unretrieved” material isoften thrown away as waste. As earlier indicated, one non-limitingattribute of these prior retrievers which makes them difficult to use isthat their blade or material reception portions are typically formed inthe shape of a square or rectangle, while the containers are generallyround. This “nonconformity” or “shape dissimilarity” makes it difficultto retrieve the material from the container and makes it difficult tothen deposit the retrieval material to or upon an applicator assembly.Moreover, this “unconformity” often causes the material to beundesirably “splattered” or deposited in the surrounding environment asthe surface of the relatively square blade forcibly meets the roundedinternal surface and an attempt is made to “scoop” the surface materialon the blade. The flexible blade typically moves or flexes against theround surface and such forced movement causes the material to forciblyemanate from the container and into the surrounding environment.

Thus, these prior retrievers further do not allow the retrieved mud tobe efficiently retrieved for placement within a mud application assemblyand/or for placement upon a desired drywall surface, thereby increasingwaste and overall cost. These prior retrievers also cause the materialwhich is being retrieved to oftentimes splatter or become deposited inthe ambient environment, thereby making for an overall aestheticallydispleasing appearance.

There is therefore a need for a new and improved drywall joint compoundor mud retriever and the present invention provides such a new andimproved retriever.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a first non-limiting object of the present invention to provide amud or drywall joint compound retriever which overcomes the variouspreviously delineated deficiencies of prior mud or drywall jointcompound retrievers.

It is a second non-limiting object of the present invention to provide anew and improved mud or drywall joint compound retriever which allowsdrywall joint compound to be easily and efficiently retrieved from acontainer and then to be selectively and accurately placed within a mudapplication assembly and/or upon a desired surface or location.

According to a first non-limiting aspect of the present invention, a mudretriever is provided and includes a handle portion; and a blade portionhaving a straight edge which integrally terminates into a secondsemi-elliptical shaped edge and wherein the blade portion furtherincludes a third acute shaped edge.

According to a second non-limiting aspect of the present invention, amud retriever is provided and includes a handle portion having alongitudinal axis of symmetry; and a blade portion which integrallyterminates into the handle portion and wherein the blade portion isunsymmetrical about the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the handleportion and wherein the blade portion is also unsymmetrical about anyaxis which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of symmetry.

According to a third non-limiting aspect of the present invention, a mudretriever is provided and includes a handle portion having alongitudinal axis of symmetry and wherein the handle portion includes agenerally round bottom portion and a pair of opposed and substantiallyidentical flared side portions; and a blade portion which integrallyterminates into the handle portion wherein a first of the pair ofopposed and substantially identical flared side portions terminates intoa first edge of the blade portion which is parallel to the longitudinalaxis of symmetry and wherein a second of the pair of opposed andsubstantially identical flared end portions terminates into a secondedge of the blade portion which protrudes away from the longitudinalaxis of symmetry and wherein the first and second edges terminate into athird semi-elliptical edge portion.

According to a fourth non-limiting aspect of to the present invention, amud retriever is provided and includes a handle portion; and a bladeportion which terminates into the handle portion and which includes anarcuate edge; and four separate straight edges which each have arespectively unique length.

These and other aspects, objects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from a reading of the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment of the invention, including thesubjoined claims, and by reference to the following drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a retriever which is made in accordancewith the teachings of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a container of drywall joint compoundbeing selectively opened with the retriever which is shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of drywall joint compound being selectivelyretrieved from the container which is shown in FIG. 2 by the use of theretriever which is shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the retriever which is shown in FIG. 1being used to apply mud or drywall joint compound upon a desired orselected surface or location according to the teachings of anon-limiting aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top frontal view of a retriever which is made in accordancewith the teachings of an alternate embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a top back view of the retriever which is shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the retriever shown in FIG. 5 taken in thedirection of arrow 7.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the retriever shown in FIG. 5 taken in thedirection of arrow 8.

FIG. 9 is a view taken in the direction of arrow 9.

FIG. 10 is a view taken in the direction of arrow 10.

FIG. 11 is a right perspective view of the retriever shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 12 is a back perspective view of the retriever shown in FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a mud retriever 10 which is madein accordance with the teachings of the preferred embodiment of theinvention. It should be appreciated that the term “mud”, throughout thisapplication, means drywall joint compound or some other type ofsubstance which may be selectively retrieved from a container andapplied in a desired manner. Thus, the present inventions are notlimited to use with such drywall mud or any other specific type ofmaterial. Thus, retriever 10 may be used with substantially any type ofmaterial.

As shown, the mud retriever 10 includes a generally elongated handleportion 12 having a generally round or bulbous shaped bottom portion 14and a blade portion 16 which integrally terminates into the handleportion 12 (e.g., the term “integrally terminates” means that theapplicator 10 is, in the most preferred embodiment, formed as a “onepiece” item).

Further, as shown, the handle portion 12 includes a pair of opposed andsubstantially identical flared side portions 18, 20 and the side portion18 integrally terminates into a straight edge portion 22. That is, thehandle portion 12 includes a longitudinal axis of symmetry 24 and thestraight edge portion 22 is parallel to the longitudinal axis ofsymmetry 24. The second edge portion 20 integrally terminates into edgeportion 30 which protrudes away from the longitudinal axis of symmetry24 and the edge portions 22, 30 each integrally terminate into thesemi-elliptically shaped edge 32. Arcuate edge 30, in one non-limitingembodiment, has a varying radius of curvature (i.e., in one non-limitingembodiment, the distance from point 29 to each point on the surface ofedge 30 is not constant).

As is evident from FIG. 1, the blade portion 16 is unsymmetrical aboutany longitudinal axis (i.e., about any axis which is parallel to axis24) and blade portion 16 is unsymmetrical about axis 24 and bladeportion 16 is unsymmetrical about any axis which is perpendicular to theaxis 24, such as axis 7. This “unsymmetrical attribute” is importantbecause it allows for different shaped blade edges 32, 30, 22, each ofwhich, as will be seen, may have a respectively unique function.

In one non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the blade portion 16 isgenerally flat and is coplanar with the portions 12, 14. However, inanother non-limiting embodiment of the invention, as shown best in FIG.1, the handle portion 12 forms an acute angle 40 with the blade portion16 (i.e., the handle portion 12 is positioned away from the bladeportion 16) such that portion 12 and 16 are not coplanar.

In one-non limiting embodiment of the invention, the width 50 variesfrom about four inches to about six inches, the length 54 of edge 22varies from about two inches to about three and one quarter inches, thedistance 56 varies from about three quarters of an inch to about oneinch, and the distance 60 varies from about six inches to about eightinches. Distance 56 is one non-limiting embodiment, is defined as thelinear distance between point 2 (the apex of portion 14) and the point 3which is where the edge 18 first becomes straight as the edge 18proceeds from point 2 to point 3. The entire retriever 10 may beconstructed of plastic, metal, wood, or some sort of composite materialor some desired combination of materials. However, nothing in thisapplication limits the retriever 10 to a certain size or construction.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a fairly conventional or typicaland generally cylindrically shaped container 70 of mud or drywall jointcompound (not shown in this FIG. 2). The container 70 includes aselectively removable top 72 which is selectively, frictionally, andremovably attached to and which overlays the lip 74 of the container 70(e.g., container 70 may comprise a paint type can). To selectivelyremove the top 72, a user of the retriever 10 causes the straight edge22 to selectively engage one or more portions of the top 72 which is, atthat time, removably attached to the lip 74 and forces the retriever 10to move in the direction of arrow 80, thereby causing the top 72 to bedislodged from the container 70 and allowing access to the mud 90 whichis resident within the generally round internal cavity 88 of thecontainer 70, as is perhaps best shown in FIG. 3.

Once the top 72 is removed, the retriever 10 is selectively placedwithin the generally round cavity 88 and the semi-elliptical edgeportion 32, which readily conforms to the curved lip 72 and curvedinterior surface 93 of the cavity 88 is readily used to relativelyeasily retrieve some of the contained mud 90 (e.g., including thatportion of the mud 90 which “clings to” or is resident upon the curvedinternal surface 93). There is no need to “Flex” or force the edge 32against the surface 93 to obtain/retrieve the mud 90. The curved wideblade portion 16 allows the retrieved portion of the mud 90 to be easilyremoved from the container 70 (e.g., from the curved interior surface93), without a substantial probability of undesired splattering, andthen deposited within a trough or some other applicator assembly, oreven directly applied to a surface or location 100, which may be a sheetrock or drywall surface (see, for example FIG. 4). One non-limitingexample of such an application assembly is the combination of a troughsupplied by WALBOARD TOOLS located at 1697 Seabright Ave., Long Beach,Calif. and referred to as “CAT NO pp-14, Com. No. 027-004” and a drywallapplication tool which may be purchased from Belmore Tools(www.BelmoreTools.com) (e.g., the flat applicator hand tool).

As shown best in FIG. 4, the edges 22, 32 may each be used toselectively “smear” the applied material (i.e., previous retrievedportion of mud 90) upon the surface 100 in an efficient and accuratemanner. When it is desired to closed the container 70, the top 72 isplaced upon the lip 74 and the end 14 may be used to selectively strikethe top 72, thereby forcing the top 72 to frictionally engage the lip 74and close the cavity 88.

Referring now to FIGS. 5-12, there is shown a mud retriever 120 which ismade in accordance with the teachings of an alternate embodiment of theinvention.

Particularly, the mud retriever 120 includes a handle portion 122 whichintegrally terminates into a blade portion 124. The handle portion 122may be of substantially any desired shape and includes an opening 123which is designed to allow the handle 122 to receive a hook or otherfastener in order to allow the retriever 120 to hang on a wall or otherstorage location Alternatively, the blade portion 124 and the handleportion 122 may be separately found and operatively coupled after theyare separately found (or concurrently although separately formed) andthen operatively coupled after they are separately formed.

The blade portion 124, which is used, in part, to selectively retrievedrywall type mud or other materials, forms an acute angle 130 with thehandle 124 and includes a first straight edge portion 134 which isparallel to the longitudinal axis of symmetry 140 of the handle 122,second and third straight edges 146, 148, which are co-linear andorthogonal to the axis 140, and a fourth straight edge 150 which isparallel to the straight edges 146,148. Edge 148 is longer than edge146. Further, blade portion 120 includes an accurate edge 180 whichintegrally terminates into and lies operatively between edges 124, 146.The accurate edge 180 is not semi-elliptical but rather has asubstantially constant slope of between two and five degrees. Each edge150, 134, 146, 148, in one non-limiting embodiment, has a respective andunique length and edge 150 may also be used to “smear” mud upon asurface.

If the handle portion 140 is separately held in the right hand by auser, than the edge 134 is closest to the left hand of the user and theforegoing blade configuration 124 allows mud (or other material) to beeasily removed from a container by the use of edge 180, which the edge180, 134 may be used to securely place the top on the container and/orto apply the retrieved material in a desired manner. Users who arenaturally “left handed” may use the bottom of the “backside” of the toolas shown in FIG. 6.

In the most preferred configuration of this alternate embodiment of theinvention, the blade portion 124 operatively and fixedly resides withina slot 170 formed within the handle portion 122. Edges 146, 148 areorthogonal to the longitudinal axis of symmetry 140. The non-uniformlengthed edges 134, 146, 148 may each be used to “smear” or selectivelyapply mud (or other material) upon surfaces of varying length. That is,an edge 134, 146, 148 having a respective length just shorter than thelength of the surface to which mud or other material is to be applied ischosen for use. The non-elliptically shaped edge 180 may, in someapplications, be better than an elliptically shaped edge at selectivelyand securely obtaining material from a container.

It is to be understood that the inventions are not limited to the exactembodiments which have been described above but that various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and thescope of the inventions as delineated within the subjoined claims.Further, it should be appreciated that applicator 10 may be used withvirtually any material, not just drywall compound

1) A mud retriever having a handle portion; and a blade portion whichterminates into said handle portion and which includes an arcuate edge;and four separate straight edges which each have a respectively uniquelength. 2) The mud retriever of claim 1 wherein said handle portion hasa longitudinal axis of symmetry and wherein only one of said fourseparate straight edges is parallel to said longitudinal axis ofsymmetry. 3) The mud retriever of claim 2 wherein three of said fourstraight edges are orthogonal to said longitudinal axis of symmetry. 4)The mud retriever of claim 3 wherein two of said three edges areco-linear. 5) The mud retriever of claim 4 when said blade portion formsan acute angle with said handle portion. 6) the mud retriever of claim 5wherein said handle portion includes a slot and said blade portionoperatively resides within said slot. 7) the mud retriever of claim 6wherein said arcuate edge is non-elliptical.